It’s strange in junta land

Life under the military dictatorship has become increasingly strange. Two recent examples are emblematic of how logic, rules and normality have been altered.

The first is of yet another “suicide” in jail. This one an official who is accused of being complicit in handing out perhaps hundreds of parcels of land to the rich and powerful. He’s put in a Department of Special Investigation cell and is found dead. This is no surprise at any time in Thailand. The rich and powerful always seek to silence witnesses and get rid of evidence.

The surprising thing is that, like one lese majeste detainee in another jail, he’s said to have hung himself. No one believes the story, not least because he’s said to have used his socks to hang himself from a door hinge. The reports are that the ” autopsy results indicated that the rupture of liver was caused by forcible contact with a hard, blunt object.”

Can we assume he beat himself up before hanging himself? This is junta land. This is Bizzaro land.

The second story is of fascist royalist Paiboon Nititawan, described in the Bangkok Post as “a former member of the now-defunct National Reform Council…”. He is said to have “proposed guidelines for the Election Commission (EC) to follow when it arranges the election expected to be held in late 2017.”

That might seem kind of interesting, but this is junta land. This is Bizzaro land. Paiboon is the man who recently proposed that The Dictator become the Unelected Premier-Dictator after an “election.” He’s forming a party and telling the EC what to do. Is he their new boss, appointed by The Dictator?

What he proposes is also bizarre. No campaigning, which he thinks is a “Japanese model.” He has no knowledge of Japan’s elections it seems. He wants repression because the charter “referendum” got the result the royalist and military fascists wanted. So, do it again.

Paiboon’s “story” of the “referendum” is a fairy tale (except for the repression), but he brags that the “result was accepted by society at an international level.” So do it again.